The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) will present the world premiere of a unique choral piece, The Gauntlet: Faraway Together on March 31 at 8pm. Centered around voices from Abu Dhabi, the intimate audio experience, created by Coco Karol and SxipShirey, immerses audiences in waves of harmony, poetry, and gesture.
Each version of The Gauntlet is composed and staged for its specific location. The Abu Dhabi edition marks the first time the composition has been re-conceived as a 360-degree spatialized audio piece. Originally planned as an in-person event for spring 2020 as a site-specific piece, in this case, the “site” is the listener’s headphones, accessible online. Dancer, choreographer, and artist Coco Karol remotely interviewed 18 diverse members of the Abu Dhabi community, using a self-developed, specialized process of “movement interviews.” The texts of these interviews form the basis of the libretto.
The unique sound artwork has been brought to life by the NYUAD Choral Ensemble under the direction of NYUAD Lecturer of Music Clare Lesser. Each individual vocal recording was transformed into an immersive, spatialized audio experience for audience members to experience through closed-back headphones.
The premiere will be followed by a live online Q&A with co-creators Coco Karol and SxipShirey, moderated by Arts Center executive artistic director Bill Bragin and director of artistic planning Linsey Bostwick. Shirey will also lead a Creator’s Workshop: Object Oriented Composition on March 30 at 6:30pm, where he explores how music can be composed with everyday objects.
Commenting on the piece, Shirey said: “It has been an incredible experience working with the staff, students and community of Abu Dhabi to create The Gauntlet: Faraway Together. Our disappointment at not being able to create and perform in a live space has turned into excitement and humbleness. Excitement over the new process with spatial audio, and humbleness over the stories of the Abu Dhabi community. We all are individuals living in the choir of our community. We hope that The Gauntlet is a way that encourages us to hear the choir clearer.”
Co-creator Coco Karol added: “At the heart of Sxip’s work is an idea I really love that ‘everyone’s intimate experience is epic to them,’ and I think we have achieved something special and connective by keeping the “togetherness” while being so far away. The process to make The Gauntlet was entirely virtual, yet it has felt both intimate and epic. We feel so close to NYUAD, The Arts Center, and participating communities because of the commitment to the work and process from everyone involved.”
Executive Artistic Director of The Arts Center at NYUAD Bill Bragin said: “The unique approach to the creation of The Gauntlet: Far Away Together represents a creative response by The Arts Center and the artists to move a signature project forward despite numerous obstacles preventing its creation and performance in the way we originally intended. Sxip and Coco have been incredibly flexible and resilient in their approach, and included The Arts Center in their process as creative collaborators in unprecedented ways. The dedication and vision of everyone involved has resulted in a bold, new approach to the construction and presentation of this piece.”
The sound design was overseen by NYUAD audio technician Subin Thomson, working with Director of Production Chris Pye. The text is derived from movement interviews with a cross-section of the NYUAD community and across the UAE, including Gaith Abdulla, Nujoom Al Ghanem, Omar Al Shami, Christina Awad, Tanya Awad, Khawla Barley, Bill Bragin, BrendalleBelaza, Bernice delos Reyes, SreeJyothish, Kevin Ke, ClariLehmkuhl, Brian Lott, Alta Mauro, Sakhawat Mehboob, Waleed Shah, Mariët Westermann, and Tala Worrell.
Previous iterations of The Gauntlet were performed as part of the Sydney Opera House Antidote Festival in 2018, composed by SxipShirey with choreography by Coco Karol, as well as at Rockefeller Center, National Sawdust, NYC’s Highline, and Norwegian Theatre Academy.
Artist bios:
SxipShirey is a composer, producer, director, and performer based in New York City. He is the composer and MD for the theater/circus arts production “LIMBO” and “LIMBO UNHINGED”, developed by Melbourne based Strut N Fret Productions House.
Shirey teaches workshops at Norwegian Theater Academy, Fredrickstad, and has toured as the opening-act for the Dresden Dolls, collaborated with Amanda Palmer, and was a member of the band Luminescent Orchestrii.
He has presented at TED, is a 2011 United States Artist Fellow, and is currently an artist in residence at Brooklyn’s premier contemporary music venue, National Sawdust. He wrote music for the short film Statuesque, written and directed by Neil Gaiman, starring Bill Nighy.
Coco Karol is a New York-based dancer, choreographer, and artist who makes cross-disciplinary performances that invite conversations between personal and shared experience. A hospice volunteer and dedicated teacher, Coco is interested in how we create meaning and connect to others.
She holds a BFA from Tisch Dance, NYU, and an MFA from Hollins University. Among the choreographers she has danced for are Chris Elam/Misnomer Dance Theater, CherylynLavagnino/ CLD, and Christopher Williams.
Her choreography has been toured internationally and premiered in leading New York venues. She has worked with musicians including Bjork, Amanda Palmer, Ryan Lott, and Sugar Vendil; and visual artists including Steven Sebring, Eve Bailey, Marcos Zotes, Benjamin Heller, and C. Finley.
She teaches various dance and embodied inquiry techniques that she developed, including Movement Before Dialogue workshops such as Gestures of Care, a movement and storytelling series for end-of-life care professionals.
Information on where to listen to The Gauntlet: Faraway Together is available on The Arts Center website.
